HYDERABAD: Nine people were killed and 34 others were injured in three accidents caused by slipperiness on the National Highway in the wake of early morning rain and thick fog on Monday, police said.

In an accident at Dinar Shah village on the highway, seven people died and 26 suffered injuries when a coach coming from Sukkur to Karachi overturned and was hit by another bus coming after it.

The SHO of Matiari police station, Asad Paryal, said only the passengers of the overturned coach bore the brunt of the accident while all passengers of the other coach remained safe.

In another accident, a trailer hit a truck head-on causing the truck to ram into a roadside tree and at the same time a speeding coach coming after the truck overturned while trying to avoid hitting it but was hit itself by yet another coach.

The bodies and the injured were taken to Matiari taluka hospital and Liaquat University Hospital (LUH), Hyderabad, where four deceased were identified as Rani Shaikh, 45, Fayyaz Arain, 30, Hoat Arain, 60, and Aijaz Bhatti, 50.

The remaining three bodies could not be identified while the 26 injured including two children were admitted to the two hospitals.

In yet another accident near Miani forest on the National Highway, a man was killed and four others including a child were wounded when a van bound for Sukkur overturned, police said.

The body and the injured were shifted to LUH, Hyderabad, where the deceased was identified as Anwer Ahmed, 55, and the four injured as Ghulam Shabbir, Ghulam Ali, Nazeeran and two-year-old Yasmeen.

In an accident near Talibul Maula Colony, a man died and four suffered injuries when a van overturned after its tyre deflated.

The body and the injured were taken to LUH, Hyderabad, where the deceased was identified as Ameer Hussain Shah, 25, and the four injured as Najaf Ali Shah, Ali Shah, Syed Nazeer Hussain and Syeda Taugir Zehra.